St. John Homecoming Hall and Museum

05/26/2026

Please share!

05/22/2026

We just had a long awaited delivery at the St. John Homecoming Museum —a camera for glass plate negatives. It will help us better tell the story of how Stafford County, Kansas houses one of the largest glass plate negative collections in the nation. Over the next year, come watch as we display some of those photos in special exhibits and galleries.
We are so grateful for Photographer Bo Rader who has photographed our Exoduster and First People photo exhibits displayed in the museum.
He drove the camera from Tennessee to St. John this week!

05/22/2026

Meet the newest volunteer at the St. John Homecoming Hall and Museum —Miss Gwen Stacy Bryant. She’s in charge of greeting visitors and also works as research assistant.

05/21/2026

I have a confession to make: the St. John Homecoming Hall and Museum’s cookbook is not debuting this Memorial Day Weekend. It’s a good news sort of thing. We have been inundated with recipes.
We want to take our time and get this right.
It will take more time getting your entries into our files.
So my apologies.
—Beccy Tanner

05/18/2026

Correction on the flyer: SE changed to SW quarter of the square.

04/19/2026

We will post the live link to our event tomorrow (April 19) shortly before 2 pm. A reminder it will take place at the St. John Homecoming Hall and Museum in St. John, 304 N. Main.
Tomorrow’s event focuses on “Does Kansas Need Its Immigrants” and “What’s Happening with Our Farm Economy?”
Guest speakers include Kansas journalist Roy Wenzl, Kansas state representative from the 113th district, Brett Fairchild, and former Stafford County Commissioner Kurt Fairchild.

04/05/2026

At the St. John Homecoming Museum, we have a new greeter!
We hope you like him!
Stop in soon to meet him!

04/03/2026

New Date for Presentation by Roy Wenzl and Kurt Fairchild:

“Does Kansas Need Its Immigrants?” and “What’s Happening with the Farm Economy?”

Sunday, April 19, 2:00

St. John Homecoming Hall and Museum, 304 N. Main, part of the George and Claramae Highfill Speaker Series

Because of those high winds last month we had to reschedule this. And in light of recent events, we’ve expanded the topic. Roy will first tell us what he learned from interviewing ag-business leaders and immigrants for his article, “Does Kansas Need Its Immigrants Despite Crackdown? Key Business Leaders Say ‘Yes,’” The Wichita Eagle, January 9, 2026. Since then, Roy is preparing an article on the farm economy, focusing on the impact of tariffs and the war in Iran. Kurt Fairchild, former County Commissioner, will provide a local perspective, and audience members will have a chance to ask questions and offer their points of view. A reception will follow for informal conversations. Please join us for a balanced, nonpartisan exchange.

Roy is a native Kansan who grew up on a farm near Greenleaf in Washington County and graduated from K-State. He has enjoyed an impressive career as a reporter, photographer, and non-fiction writer. He was the primary author of the best-selling book about the BTK crimes in Wichita, “Bind, Torture, Kill: The Inside Story of the Serial Killer Next Door” (2007). He also authored “The Miracle of Father Kapaun,” the military chaplain from Kansas who died in a prison camp during the Korean War. Having worked for newspapers for 50 years, Roy has received some notable awards. He was part of the news team at the Kansas City Star that won a 1982 Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the Hayatt Hotel skywalk collapse. In 2024, he was inducted into the Kansas Newspaper Hall of Fame.

After a hiatus, my brother Scott and I are re-starting the George and Clara Mae Highfill Speaker series. We plan to have 3 or 4 events each year, and welcome ideas or suggestions for future talks of interest to the community.

Please note: we plan on live-streaming this event!

12/15/2025

This is a good day for St. John News!

Michael Hathaway started this magazine and it is now nationally recognized.

Chiron Review Issue #139 (Winter 2025), offers a rich and varied literary experience, with poetry and fiction that engage deeply with themes of memory, loss, identity, and the human condition. The poetry section is particularly noteworthy for its range of voices and styles, while the fiction presents compelling narratives that complement the emotional and thematic resonance of the poems.

The poetry in this issue is marked by a strong sense of place and personal history, often exploring the tension between past and present, the physical and the emotional. There is a palpable intimacy and vulnerability that runs through much of the work, with poets navigating complex emotional landscapes with deft craft and evocative language.

Chiron Review Issue #139 (Winter 2025), edited by Michael Hathaway, offers a rich and varied literary experience, with poetry and fiction that engage deeply with themes of memory, loss, identity, and the human condition. The poetry section is particularly noteworthy for its range of voices and style...

12/15/2025

Beccy serves on our board and gives freely of her time and talents to help keep the museum relevant and move us forward. We are very proud of her!

What makes a place truly feel like home? That’s the question at the heart of this conversation with Beccy Tanner, a journalist whose passion for Kansas and i...